Love Live short stories
by hidekins
Summary: Trying to flex my writing brain by taking in small requests/prompts. 1. Christmas HonoMaki 2. KotoNico fluff. 3. NicoEli. 4. EliMaki/UmiMaki Xmas shopping. 5. HonoKotoUmi drinking game. 6. TsubaHono pickup lines. 7-9. NicoUmi, NozoNicoEli, UmiMaki Secret Santa gifts. Feel free to drop a request/prompt!
1. HonoMaki - Sweet Xmas Miracle

"something christmasy? since tis the season" prompt from myonmukyuu

* * *

Through immense trials and tribulations, she had finally done it. Maki was dumbfounded for a few moments, staring at the tray of freshly baked cookies now cooling on the countertop. Batches of failed attempts of baking cookies wished they could gloriously stand where the perfectly baked ones stood, instead their either burnt crispiness or uncooked gooiness rested in the bin. Nico would probably have a heart attack if she found out just how much money on ingredients Maki went through before getting these cookies right, but _screw her, these cookies weren't for her._

They were for the jolly man who came to visit every 25th of December.

Maki took a glance at the clock, it was almost nine o'clock. _Crap_. Hoping some sort of Christmas miracle would clean the kitchen for her, the medical student rushed to her bedroom to clean herself up and dress up. Who would have had known cooking could be so time consuming? The girls would be arriving any minute now and she still had flour in places she never knew flour could get to. Everyone had agreed that they should bring "ugly" Christmas sweaters for the occasion; Maki frowned as she inspected the one her mother had bought for her, a silly design of Santa Claus riding a unicorn. What was even ugly about it? Sure, it was peculiar, but Maki could not fathom the idea of an _ugly_ Christmas sweater. Christmas was anything but ugly. Putting it on, Maki finished her outfit by matching it with a pair of fluffy red sandals, casual enough for what should be a fun reunion.

 _Bzzzt_.

Maki rushed to the door when she heard the doorbell, briefly stopping by a mirror to quickly fix herself before answering to the door.

"Maki-chan!"

 _Santa getting eaten by a dinosaur._ Now that was an ugly Christmas sweater.

Maki almost fell down when Honoka lunged herself at her, arms wrapping around her neck and pulling her to a tight embrace. "I've missed you!" Honoka laughed as she huddled Maki. Maki simply patted Honoka's back in response. At least she didn't have to see Honoka's sweater like this.

"You mean _we've_ missed you," Umi corrected her. Right behind Honoka were Umi and Kotori, each holding small cake boxes. Umi's sweater design made it look like she was wearing gift wrapping, while Kotori's was a simple design, barring the big red letters on the middle that said " _Christmas sweater_ ".

"You can put those in the living room. And you can let me go now, Honoka."

Honoka simply giggled as she let go and turned around to take one of the two boxes Umi was holding before letting herself in with Umi and Kotori following her.

Maki and Kotori exchanged greetings after Maki closed the door to stop the cold winter air from coming in any more.

"Something smells really good!" Maki heard Honoka exclaim before she saw her following her nose from the living room, across the hallway and into the kitchen. Knowing Honoka, Maki was certain that her hours of effort were in severe danger if Honoka was not stopped.

"Honoka, step away from those cookies!" Maki's warning had been too late, for Honoka turned around with a cookie already in her mouth and the tray on her hand.

Maki could barely make out a _What?_ with Honoka's mouth half full of the cookie that was not meant for her. The redhead could not hold back her grunt nor her frown, clear danger flags for Honoka, but dammit the cookies were good. Maybe a Christmas miracle would save her from the medical student's wrath. Maki made her way to Honoka and and with one quick movement snagged the tray of cookies away from her. With a big gulp, Honoka swallowed the cookie and tried to reach for another one, only for Maki to move the tray away and keep Honoka at bay with her other arm.

"Come on, Maki-chan! Where's your Christmas spirit? Share!" Honoka pleaded as she kept trying to reach the tray. Curse her short couple of height centimeters to Maki's.

"These are not for you!" Maki struggled to keep shoving Honoka away, what with balancing the cookie tray and all the flour and bits of dough on the ground. How was Honoka even this strong?!

"You didn't bake them for us? C'mooon, just one or four!" Honoka's pleads were not very convincing when she was showing about as much strength as a dinosaur trying to gobble up a jolly red man.

"No! These are for San-!"

Maki knew it was no good to dwell on what-if's but she could not help it when her fluffy footwear slipped on the flour-y floor, sending the tray and the cookies to the air and the image of Santa Claus being eaten whole by a tyrannosaurus Rex being the last image before she smacked her back on the floor.

 _Sweet._

The pain on her rear and back most certainly was not sweet, but the sugar in her mouth was. Honoka was just as shocked as Maki when she had realized that her lips had completely acquaintanced with each other when Honoka landed right on top of Maki. The two remained frozen still, each trying to process what had and was happening.

* * *

A loud metal crash startled Umi and Kotori, who had busied themselves opening and setting the cake boxes on the living room table. Exchanging concerned glances, the two wasted no second to get to the kitchen.

"Are you two okay? What happened here?"

All the two could see was what seemingly had been a tornado go through the kitchen: the countertops were all covered in flour, dirty bowls and baking utensils, on the floor layed a metal cooking tray, several cookies, and two of their friends with ugly Christmas sweaters covered in flour and faces just as red as Maki's face.


	2. KotoNico - Teardrop gem

"Kotori and Nico fluff?" request from tumblr anon

* * *

"Hnnrgh.." Kotori rubbed her head with the eraser end of her mechanical pencil in frustration. For each second that the sketch for her upcoming dress design remained unfinished, the rubbed harder and faster. She could not remember when was the last time she was stumped as this, perhaps for the Love Live competition? Kotori let out a small sob as she bumped and rested her head on her sketchbook. Kotori sniffed, feeling tears well up on her eyes.

"Hey now, you told me your client wanted teardrop gems, not actual teardrops," Nico said as she set down a mug of hot cocoa in front of Kotori's face and rubbed her back. "Is the art block _that_ bad?"

"Nico-chaaan!" Kotori cried out and tightly embraced Nico, pressing her face on her stomach.

"Maybe I can help?" Nico offered as she stroked Kotori's hair. Kotori simply nodded, face still pressed on Nico. "Come on, the great Nico Nii can't help you if you're gonna have your face all over her."

Kotori nodded once more and slowly let go of Nico, sniffing once more. Looking up at her, she found Nico looking right back at her with calm and warm eyes. Feeling a bit more relieved, Kotori took the hot cocoa and gave it a sip. "Thanks, Nico-chan."

"Don't mention it. Now, what's the issue?" Nico asked as she took a look at Kotori's rough sketch of a dress.

"I just can't get it right, I have no idea where to put the gems… I thought maybe at the hem of the dress or on a sash, but then they're too many, and it just won't look good on the collar with the color of the dress they want." Kotori explained, taking hold of the mechanical pencil and tapping on the eraser end several times.

"Alright, first take a deep breath. Calm down and close your eyes, a fresh look will clear things up," Nico advised.

Kotori nodded and closed her eyes and took a deep breath, slowly letting it go.

"Okay, keep them closed. I think I can see where the gem might fit just perfectly." Nico's voice alone was soothing, but her advice did make sense as well and made Kotori's stress relieve a bit.

"Alright, open your eyes."

When Kotori opened her eyes, it took them a brief moment to focus on something that was not there before, but they quickly unfocused again when Kotori started to tear up again.

"Perfect spot, right?" Nico asked with a big smile, holding a golden ring with a teardrop emerald gem right above Kotori's finger.


	3. NicoEli - Three months

"EliNico ;) request? With a friendly fire of surprise" request from tumblr anon. Wasn't quite sure what you meant by the last bit so I took some liberties.

* * *

"Eli, please! Nozomi thought it was funny! Honoka and Rin too!" _No response._ Nico sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose before knocking again on the bedroom door. "Come out, please?"

Still no response. Eli was probably sitting on the bed, curled up and her head on her knees. Nico imagined she could have gotten _slightly_ upset, but Eli had been locked in their bedroom for almost two hours.

"Eli, I'm sorry. Will you please come out? Or let me in? I at least wanna apologize properly." Nico asked and dropped the saccharine voice. Nico was not planning to sleep without Eli, or at least not on the couch.

A few more moments of silence passed before Nico heard the door being unlocked. Nico waited a few moments before going in; as she suspected, she found Eli sitting on the bed and not looking at her. Nico knew her modus operandi for when Eli was like this. Nico made her way to the bed and simply sat down back to back behind Eli.

"I'm sorry," Nico said softly. Eli's only response was lean just enough for their backs to touch a little.

" _Three months,_ " Eli whispered. Nico pouted, already knowing what was coming next. "You just watched me water a _fake plant_ for three months."

Nico knew that if she laughed now, everything would be over. Eli would kick her out of the apartment and she would go homeless or be taken in by Nozomi. Both options sounded awful. Nico should have known that listening to Nozomi _and_ Rin was a bad a idea.

"And then you told everyone." _Well, she really told only Honoka. And then Honoka told everyone else._

"I'll make it up to you, Nico promises. Anything you want." Nico shifted to sit to Eli's side and then place her hand over hers.

"Anything?" Eli peeked to the side, looking at Nico.

Nico nodded. "Anything."

Eli contemplated for a moment before looking back at Nico and squeezing her hand back. Nico offered her a smile. "Take the day off," was her simple request.

"Sure," Nico agreed and sealed the deal by leaning in and kissing Eli on her forehead.


	4. UmiMaki - Perfect gift

"Eli and Maki at the mall, shopping for their secret santa gifts within the group. I think it would be a cute idea" request from tumblr anon.

* * *

"Why did we even agree to such a strict price range?" Maki grumbled as she browsed through the assortment of winter scarves.

"Because _some_ people could and probably would go overboard with the pricetag of their gift," Eli answered as she picked up a pair of gloves and inspected them. Unhappy with the quality, she put them down and moved on to the next item.

"I wouldn't go overboard-"

"I never mentioned your name," Eli cut Maki off and smiled. Maki blushed and scowled, turning away from Eli. "And that's also why I'm helping you out picking a gift, to make sure you don't break that rule."

"I don't need a babysitter," Maki crossed her arms and directed her frown to the coats. "This would be so much easier if I could just pick one of these coats."

"Which all are over the price range," Eli added. "How often do you go shopping?"

Maki remained silent for a few moments, still turned away from Eli. "... Not very often. Mama does most of the shopping."

"Maki, you have to think about what your Secret Santa would like and not think about the price. More expensive doesn't always mean better."

"I know that," Maki said, turned to Eli and picked up a pair of gloves with a tacky design, "but this won't make a good gift!" Eli had to agree on that one, those looked awful. "I-I have to pick a great gift; I can't tarnish Santa's name with a cruddy gift." Eli's giggle only made Maki more flustered. "W-What're you giggling for?"

"No, nothing. I'm sure we'll find a gift both you and Santa can be proud of. Why don't we go look in other stores? There's plenty to look for in the mall."

* * *

"Maki, I know we have a price range but are you sure about this?" Eli asked warily as she looked at Maki's selection. Out of all the places they could have found the 'perfect' gift, a toy store was the last place Eli would have thought about.

"Yes, this is perfect," Maki said proudly as she took her gift to the cashier. Maki looked forward to face Umi would make upon tearing the wrapping and seeing a set of a toy bow and suction cup arrows.

Besides, no one said nothing about getting more gifts outside the Secret Santa exchange and Maki had spotted another perfect gift for Umi when they passed by the jewelry store.


	5. HonoKotoUmi - Never have I

"drinking game. 2nd years or ncmk?" request from tumblr user saberin

* * *

"Alright, everyone got the rules? Pretty simple, right?" Nico asked as she finished pouring vodka into the last shot glass.

"Say something you've never done, and if you've done it you take the shot," Rin explained once more as the nine girls finished sitting down on the floor in a circle.

"Why are we doing this again?" Umi asked as she was handed her shot glass.

"Becaaause it'll be fun!" Nozomi smiled and handed a shot to Maki who sat next to her.

"This is dumb," Maki commented and frowned.

"Maki-chan's just afraid she's gonna lose-"

"Now, now! It'll be fun! Who's gonna start!" Nozomi asked while shoving the palm of her hand over Nico's mouth, who sat on her other side. Nozomi certainly did not need bickering while everyone was still sober.

"Oh, me! Me! I wanna start!" Honoka sat up and raised her hand, almost knocking down her own shot glass in the process. Both Kotori and Umi looked at her with curious eyes as she sat back down, wondering what she would say first. Knowing her, she would probably say something among the lines of I've never studied for more than three hours or-

"I never made out with anyone!"

Both were not sure if they were more surprised by Honoka's declaration or the fact that the other six girls had to down their shots.

* * *

"I have never played For Fun in Smash" had no one drinking and some sharing confused looks.

"Never have I shot a gun" had Umi asking if a bow counted as a gun. After a collective no, Eli was the only one to drink.

"I've never failed a test" made Honoka, Rin, Nico and Nozomi drink.

"Well, I've never passed every single test!" made the other five drink too.

"I've never failed preparing an instant meal." A few moments of awkward silence passed before Maki was the only to take her shot.

After a couple of rounds, the game quickly devolved into I've never's that were clearly targeting other people.

"I've never tried to stop the creation of an idol club-nya!"

"I've never called my friends backup dancers."

"I've not slapped a friend!"

"Never have I groped every breast in this room."

"Nico has never owned several vacation houses!"

Hanayo's turn was up, and under the effects of inebriation, she took a deep breath before declaring: "I-I've never had sex!"

The whole room was silent for almost a whole minute before Nico, Maki, Nozomi and Eli drank their shots.

"Wait, _you've_ done it? With who?" Eli asked Nico, flabbergasted and too drunk to notice that Maki had frozen in place.

"Wouldn't you like to know-"

"I've never done it with Maki-chan!" Rin exclaimed.

"R-Rin! You traitor!" Nico had not felt as betrayed as this before, not even when she was left on her own in the idol club years ago. Rin only gave her a shit-eating grin and a peace sign and Nico had no choice but to down her drink. Everyone save for Maki and Nico ended up laughing as Nico struggled to finish her shot, having had already one too many, while Maki remained a silent and blushing mess.

"Kotori-chan, you're up," Honoka whispered when Kotori had not said anything.

"Oh! Umm…" Kotori pouted as she tried to think of something. She looked to her side, hoping that Honoka or Umi would provide her with some sort of revelation. Honoka's eagerness and Umi's somewhat concerned eyes made her think of something.

"Never have I said I love you and not meant it."

The sudden shift in mood of Kotori's declaration made everyone go silent before Honoka raised her shot glass in excitement.

"Yeah, me neither!"

"Honoka! You have to come up with something of your own, not just repeat Kotori!" Umi was quick to respond, grabbing Honoka by the shoulder and sitting her back down.

"Oh, oops." Honoka laughed and scratched the back of her head. "Sorry, I got kinda excited. Well, I… I've never regretted having been lectured by Umi-chan. I know she looks out for my dumb ass whenever I'm gonna do something too stupid. And I can't imagine what I'd be doing without her in the future, nor Kotori, 'cuz she also always looks out for me, and I love them both so much that-"

"Honoka-chan," Nozomi interrupted Honoka.

"Yeah?"

"Nico and Rin already had to take their shot when you mentioned Umi's lectures," Nozomi pointed out Nico who was on the verge of passing out and Rin who struggled to maintain her balance.

"Oh… um, I got carried away again. Sorry." Honoka could only laugh nervously, feeling bad about her two friends.

"Why don't we call it a night then?" Eli suggested, having two players knocked out and another two struggling to deal with them seemed like a good time to stop.

"I think another shot would've sent Nico to the ER." Maki's comment was hard to tell if it was a joke or not, everyone simply looked at her with silence. "It's a joke, she's not gonna die-"

"Nico thinks she's gonna throw up." Nico's groggy voice made Nozomi, Eli and Maki hustle to carry the petite girl off to the bathroom.

"I'm gonna take Rin-chan to bed, good night guys," Hanayo said her goodbye, hoisting Rin's arm over her shoulders and helping her get up.

"Good night Hanayo-chan, Rin-chan!" Honoka waved at them, Umi and Kotori saying their good nights as well. "That was fun, wasn't it?"

"Fun, you say…" Umi repeated doubtfully, having seen two of their friends nearly pass out from intoxication.

"I um… I really meant what I said," Kotori muttered, fiddling with her fingers nervously. Kotori looked up and elaborated more once she saw Umi and Honoka's confused faces. "That I love you two."

"Was that not a given?" Umi asked, still unsure where Kotori was going with all of this.

"We love you too, Kotor-!" Honoka was interrupted by being pulled into a swift kiss on the lips by Kotori, who quickly let go and pulled Umi for a kiss as well.

"I _love_ you two," Kotori repeated. "I don't want to ever be separated from either of you."

It took a few moments for both Umi and Honoka to regain their composure, still in slight shock from Kotori's quick kisses.

"I-I love you too, Kotori," Umi managed to stutter, and once Honoka looked at her with expectant eyes, she took a deep breath to calm herself. "And you too."

Honoka smiled warmly and took Kotori and Umi's hands on her own. "I'm gonna hold on to you two and never let go, you know?"

"We wouldn't have it any other way."


	6. TsubaHono - Hook, line and sinker

"Hook, line, sinker. For TsubaHono" prompt from deathgremory on tumblr.

"No way, no. Don't do it, Honoka."

"That was the most awful pickup I've ever heard-nya."

"Aw, c'mon guys. I thought it was good," Honoka whined before popping open another beer bottle. Honoka thought the Christmas party that they had organized was going to be something like the innocent fun they had back when they were school idols. It had been very assuming of her that alcohol would not have been involved but having Tsubasa, Anju and Erena invited made her feel nostalgic to those times. Instead of that she now she had Rin and Nico making fun of her pickup line.

"Honoka, you're drunk. If you say that to Tsubasa, she's gonna laugh her ass off. The other two will probably do it too." Nico shook her head in disapproval.

"You're the one who always gets super drunk and does stupid stuff, why should Honoka have to listen to you?" Honoka frowned.

"Yeah! Remember that time you woke up the next morning naked in bed with Nozomi and Eli-!"

Nico quickly covered Rin's mouth, muffling any other word from her. "S-Shut up! We don't talk about that night! And you two vowed to never bring that up again!"

"I didn't bring it up." Honoka laughed and shrugged before taking a chug of her beer.

Nico scowled at Rin until she suddenly let go of her mouth with a yelp. "Y-You licked Nico's hand!"

Honoka kept laughing at her two friends' antics for a bit, each of them going back and forth in their drunk bickering. At some point Nico tried to get ahold of Rin but failing to get a grip of her; after a while though Honoka stopped paying attention to them and instead watched Tsubasa talk and laugh with Erena and Anju. Popping open another bottle, she took a couple of big gulps from it before heading towards them. Honoka still felt confident about her flirting plan, and if it failed she could laugh too and then blame it on the alcohol.

"Tsubasa-chan!" Honoka called out as she approached the trio.

"Oh, Honoka-san. Thanks for inviting us," Tsubasa greeted her, the other two turning towards her as well.

"Hey…" Honoka put an arm on a wall and leaned closer to Tsubasa. _Wait, shit, how did it go again?_ Honoka completely blanked out right about as she was about to deliver the most clever line she had come up with in her entire life. Why now?!

"Honoka-san? Are you okay?" Tsubasa's look of confusion and concern only aggravated Honoka even more. She had to remember it now! What was it about?! If only could she remember what it was about but she only vaguely remembered that it had something to do with… with…

"Wait, a pickup line about _what_?"

"Yeah, can you believe it?" Nico laughed as she told Nozomi what Honoka had came up with. " _Do you have a switch on your forehead? Because you turn me on._ " Nico did her best impression of Honoka before laughing again.

Nozomi laughed as well but only joined in on it briefly. "Well, damn. She got a hook, line and sinker," she said with a whistle as she saw Erena and Anju laughing at a Tsubasa who was blushing the brightest anyone had ever seen before.


	7. NicoUmi - Super Secret Santa Pt 1

NicoUmi for masterthiefgrayshadow

"U-Um… Nico?"

"Yeah?"

The image of the huge flower fields behind Nico as she turned around to look at her made speaking a bit more difficult than Umi would have wanted. "Could we hold hands?"

Nico simply looked at Umi, waiting for the moment when Umi would admit she finally grew a sense of humor and say she was joking but it never happened.

" _No._ "

"N-No?!" That certainly was not the answer Umi was expecting. "W-Why not?"

"Because, Umi, we've been dating for almost half a year now." When Nico saw that Umi was not following her logic, she continued, "you shouldn't be asking me these things by now." How many times had they gone through this already?

"I-I don't know how relationships work-"

"We've been dating for five months too. We've even kissed!" Granted, Umi had asked for those kisses too, but Nico had figured that at least her girlfriend would have gotten over holding hands. "You've also written so many love songs!"

"That does not make them any less embarrassing!" Umi protested and looked down, her cheeks flushing. "I-I just don't want to mess it up," Umi admitted as she squeezed the hem of her dress.

Umi felt her heart skip a beat when Nico held her hands and gently squeezing them. Looking up, Nico offered her a gentle smile before turning it into a cheerful grin. "You won't." Umi smiled back, she did not know how but Nico always managed to calm down her anxieties.

"So, could we hold hands?"

Nico turned around and threw an arm out, offering an " _ohmygod_ " to the flower fields and started to walk away from Umi. Umi, on the other hand, couldn't help but to giggle as she held on tightly to Nico's hand as she walked behind her.


	8. NozoNicoEli - Super Secret Santa Pt 2

NozoNicoEli for saberin

* * *

"H-Hey, what're you doing-?!"

"You sit down here…"

"And let us prepare dinner!"

Nico could only keep quiet out of sheer bafflement. Eli had just picked her up as if she was paper (granted, Eli always did make it seem like Nico was lighter than a feather when she carried her) and put her on the couch.

"We agreed to make sukiyaki though-"

"Yup, and Nicocchi gets to rest for a bit," Nozomi added from the kitchen as she took the portable stove to the dining table.

"You've prepared basically everything on your own this whole year, like on Nozomi's birthday, my birthday, my _sister's_ birthday, our anniversary, Christmas…" Eli listed as she looked for the TV remote and put it on the armrest of the couch. "So you can sit back and let us prepare this one. In return for this year."

Nico never doubted the capabilities of her two girlfriends. Nozomi had several more years of experience of living on her own than Eli and Nico and Eli was always the most responsible of the two and she probably had lived a survivalist's life back in Russia for years, even if she adamantly refused so (that's what Russian spec ops like Eli wanted you to believe). But putting them together was a whole different thing. Somehow this duo managed to take two positives and turn them into negatives, specifically when it came to wanting to impress Nico. Nico had pretty much saved all of those three birthdays because her surprisingly incompetent girlfriends had managed to burn two cakes and almost set the apartment on fire and after those two incidents Alisa trusted no one but Nico to save her when Eli insisted on baking her a cake. Yeah, Nico was pretty amazing. She had to be if she wanted to survive in this apartment.

But those blue eyes filled with excitement and expectations tied a knot on Nico's throat that would not let the " _no_ " come out.

"Fine, but don't screw it up," Nico huffed and crossed her legs.

"We won't disappoint you."

Eli's words echoed in Nico's head as she took the remote and turned on the TV to watch the New Year's special.

They wouldn't disappoint Nico. _They've never had. Not when they were school idols, not when they confessed to each other, not when they moved in together._

* * *

"Wait, is that water? You don't put water in the mixture- Elicchi, stop!"

 _They wouldn't disappoint Nico_ , Nico repeated in her head.

"Nozomi, I don't think the eggs- the eggs go in separate bowls!"

 _They've never had_ , Nico repeated as her fingers fiddled with the remote,

"I told you to slice the meat, not chop it!"

 _Not when they were school idols,_ her teeth gritted as Nico turned up the TV's volume.

"Did you use sake or the cooking sake?"

 _Not when they confessed to each other. Not when they moved-_

"There's a difference?"

Nico had enough. Eli and Nozomi had not disappointed her because, really, Nico already knew it was not going to go as planned. It never did with these two. Dropping the remote on the couch, Nico quickly got up and turned around.

"Alright, you two are useless without Nico-!"

Her voice failed to come out when Nico saw the perfectly set up sukiyaki hot pot on the table, ingredients simmering smoothly, bowls of rice and egg laid out alongside cups and a large shouchuu bottle.

"Got ya," Nozomi teased with a wink.

"Thanks for taking care of us, Nico."

Nico had to rub her forehead and groan. These two had to audacity to close the year by tricking her.

Nico was never disappointed in them. They always amazed her.


	9. UmiMaki - Super Secret Santa Pt 3

UmiMaki for bcheddar13

* * *

"It's so obvious! They're totally into each other!"

"Honoka, don't be ridiculous…"

"Look at the way they look at each other! And how they're talking! They're so focused in each other, it's _love_!"

"What are you guys blabbering about?" Nico asked as she twirled on the office chair set up in front of the clubroom's computer. Honoka and Eli had backed up to her and started quietly gossiping to each other. Well, as quiet as one could get with Honoka.

"C'mon, Nico-chan. It's so obvious! You're with me on this one, right?" Honoka asked and pointed at Umi and Maki who were sitting on the other side of the clubroom quietly talking with each other.

"Honoka says that Umi and Maki are in love with each other," Eli explained and rolled her eyes.

"Honoka, don't be stupid." Finally, someone was on her side on this dumb discussion- "School idols can't date each other in public."

"Wait, that's your reasoning?!"

"Well, duh. C'mon, even you know that!" Umi and Maki paused and looked over at the discussing trio when Nico used one too many decibels. Honoka and Eli quickly shushed her and the musical pair resumed their conversation.

"Nico-chan's right! They must be doing it in secret."

"D-Doing _what_ in secret?!" Eli blushed, eyeing Maki and Umi. They wouldn't, would they? Wait, why was she even thinking about that when it was so clear Honoka was wrong?

"Oh, well, you know. Couple stuff! Like holding hands and texting each other." Texting each other. _In secret._

Nico did her best to contain her laughter and had to take a deep breath before speaking. "Honoka, you've never dated anyone before, have you?"

"Well, as a school idol I can't tell you." Honoka's stupid grin only made Nico want to punch her. "They're always together! Speaking so secretively! I bet they're planning out dates."

"They're discussing songs, Honoka." Eli sighed, she could not believe Honoka was so much into the idea of them dating each other.

"Why are they being so secretive about it then, _hmm_? Yeah, I thought so!"

"Honoka, you know Umi is the one who never likes to talk about her works in progress. She's too embarrassed to show them to anyone-"

"Then why does she show her to Maki-chan, _hmm_? Eli-chan, I know Umi-chan like the back of my hand. I know what she's feeling and what she's feeling is love for Maki-chan-"

"Honoka, didn't Umi slap you that one time because you were so dumb that you couldn't figure out what either of your childhood friends were thinking?" Nico pointed out before finally bursting out into laughter.

"Aw c'mon, Nico-chan! That was a low blow! And that was one time!"

The loud thud of a notebook hitting the table shut both Honoka and Nico up; Umi and Maki had gotten up and picked up their bags.

"We're going to the music room to discuss μ's next song somewhere else _in peace._ " Maki's squinting eyes pierced through Honoka and Nico and with a huff she turned and left the club room. Umi's lack of any lectures or glares somehow made her even scarier than the redhead.

"See? Now you two drove them off," Eli sighed and shook her head.

* * *

"They were talking about us," Umi pointed out as they made their way to the music room.

"Yeah, I know. But Honoka did a good job making it seem like we're not dating," Maki said, all too pleased.

"Y-You sounded awfully fond of that idea." The words slipped before Umi realized what she had said.

Maki rolled her eyes and tightened her grip on Umi's hand. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm just glad we got the others off of our backs. And that we're getting the music for ourselves again."

Umi could not speak another word and could not even look up out of embarrassment. Luckily for her, Maki was more than happy to lead her to the place in school that they had claimed as their own private space.


End file.
